Chapter 249 War Planning

Although Pro was old, as a capable subordinate of Volenus, he was quite famous in the baggage camp in the past. Naturally, there were women who liked him, so he got married after the establishment of the tribe.

"No, no, go to my place tonight!" Valerius hurriedly objected loudly.

"Go to your house? What delicious food can you make?" Pro objected disdainfully.

"Don't think that you are the only one with a woman in your house. I just found one and the food I made is very good!" Valerius boasted.

"Okay, Valerius, I found a woman quietly. I have to go to your house tonight to celebrate." Pro said with a smile.

"Leontias, how are you now? Are you still single?" Valerius asked the only young man among the three complacently.

"Well..." Leontias lowered his head a little ashamed.

"It's okay, it's okay." Valerius comforted: "Go to my house tonight and let my woman introduce you to one. There are many women in the Ardi tribe where he belongs. They all want to marry us Nix people. You can pick a good one."

Leontias didn't say anything, but his eyes were full of expectation when he looked at Valerius.

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"Chief, our military department selected 500 tribesmen yesterday. They can easily string the crossbow 4 times, shoot steadily, and can trot for long distances without much effort. They fully meet our requirements for crossbowmen. They will start training today. In addition, we have selected more than 600 people as reserves. Once the crossbow team is expanded, we will also have enough reserve troops." Frontinus reported.

"Yes, the training of crossbowmen is relatively easy. I believe the team will be formed in less than a month." Maximus looked at Capito: "The key question now is whether the iron workshop can produce enough crossbows in a short period of time?"

This was not a routine meeting in the Political Affairs Hall. Instead, Maximus called the three chief officers of the Ministry of War, the chief officer of the Ministry of Finance, and the chief officer of the Ministry of Works to discuss relevant military affairs.

"Chief, ten days ago, after the Iron Workshop received our order to speed up the production of crossbows, they have already manufactured forty crossbows and more than five hundred arrows as of yesterday..."

Capito reported truthfully: "The problem now is that there is not enough material, mainly flax, and there is a shortage of manpower... If these conditions can be met, Caedesus promised me that 'a 500-man crossbow unit can be fully equipped within two months. "

"As for the flax issue, Pigris has already negotiated with the Ardi tribe, and the flax will be delivered in a few days. As for the shortage of manpower..."

Maximus touched his chin and said: "You can ask the Iron Workshop to stop manufacturing other ironware and concentrate all manpower on manufacturing crossbows! If there are still not enough people, your Ministry of Works can withdraw manpower from other workshops to give priority to the manufacture of crossbows."

"With these words from you, the Iron Workshop will definitely be able to equip the crossbow unit within two months." Capito said with a relaxed look.

"Chief, what is the current situation of the Pannoni? When will they attack us? How many enemies will there be?" Frantilus asked anxiously.

Maximus looked at everyone with a serious expression and said in a deep voice: "According to the intelligence we have received now, the territories of the two Pannoni tribes, Segestica and Brochi, have begun to hand over a large amount of food, summoned the tribesmen for military training, and the blacksmiths in the tribes are also stepping up the production of armor and weapons...

The most important thing is that the village of Segestica, which is adjacent to us, has not only strengthened border patrols, but also has convoys carrying supplies into the village from time to time... All these show that the Pannoni will have a large military action, and it is aimed at us!"

"From this point of view, it is certain that the Pannoni want to attack us." Quintus said thoughtfully: "Last year, several Pannoni tribes united to attack our temporary camp. At that time, their troops were about 30,000 people, and they were finally repelled by us. This time they will only summon more people to attack us."

"Even if the Pannoni army is larger than last time, our current strength is much stronger than when we first came here last year. The First Legion easily defeated the Otariat army, which is much larger than them, which fully demonstrates that our army is much stronger than these untrained tribal armies here."

Frantinus said confidently: "What we are worried about now is that we don't know when the Pannoni will attack? How will they attack? ... If we can know this in advance, we can prepare and reduce our own losses."

"Emeric once told me that the Pannoni are like other races here. They all worship gods and keep their promises made before gods. If the new chief of Segestica violates the armistice agreement signed with us under the sacred ceremony and launches a war against us, isn't he afraid of the anger of gods and dissatisfaction of the people?!"

Maximus slowly said the idea he had already considered: "Moreover, the Pannoni Tribal Alliance wants to mobilize tens of thousands of troops to attack us. With their military mobilization and organizational capabilities, they cannot do it in a short time. But if winter comes and the weather is cold, their marching operations and food transportation will become difficult, so I think that as soon as the armistice agreement between Segestica and us ends, the Pannoni will rush to attack us. "

"Chief, I think what you said makes sense. The Pannonians should launch an attack as soon as the armistice ends." Frontinus nodded.

"Well, we still have nearly two months. The iron workshop can completely complete the tasks assigned by you, leader." Capito interjected.

"The last time the armies of the Pannoni tribes met in the Segostika territory, then marched along the south bank of the Kupa River, and finally besieged our temporary camp..."

As the chief of staff, Quintus has obviously considered this issue. He pointed to the simplified map of the surrounding area of ​​the Nyx tribe placed on the wooden table and said: "This time the Pannoni army will attack us again. South of the Kupa River Shore may still be their main offensive route——"

Frontinus interjected: "In this case, we can concentrate our troops on Westney, where if the enemy comes, we can intercept them and force them to fight with us to the north of Westney, where The terrain is not too wide, and the Pannoni army must be much larger than ours, which is not conducive to them spreading their troops. If we repel them there, we can also greatly reduce their damage to our territory. "

Quintus knocked on the map on the table and said in a deep voice: "But we must not ignore the other march route - the distance from the west of the Brochi tribe's territory to the east bank of the Korana River is not It is long and mainly has hilly terrain and rivers, which is also suitable for large troops to travel.

Pecot led his troops in the opposite direction once before, and Broch's territory suffered great losses due to the lack of troops. If Broch's leader is worried that such a situation will happen again, he may lead his troops to go here. A route——”

Quintus gestured on the map with his finger and said with emphasis: "After the Pannoni army reaches the east bank of the Korana River, they can go north along the river and bypass the Varidosi Swamp, and then they can invade our territory. Snodia Territory!”

Frontinus stopped talking and bent down, staring at the map and thinking.

"I remember that there are many Ardei tribes in the Korana River. It is impossible for the Pannoni army to pass through the north bank of the Korana River and reach us so easily, right?" Cornelius, the chief officer of the Ministry of Property, couldn't help but said. .

Capito said disdainfully: "The last time the Pannoni army besieged our camp, the Ardi people did not send troops to the rear to harass them. This time they fought against the Otariat people. I heard that the Ardi people The losses were not small, and they did not have the courage to intercept the Pannoni army that had defeated them many times. I am afraid that the Pannoni army had not yet reached the Korana River, and the Ardeii people living there had retreated early. "

Cornelius was stunned for a moment and did not refute, because he also felt that this might become a fact, so he added: "We can also concentrate our troops in Snodia. If the Pannonians attack from here, we will Fight them on this side."

"What if the Pannonian army splits into two groups and attacks Snodia and Westene at the same time?" Quintus asked.

Cornelius's face changed, and he replied: "Then our army... will also be divided into two parts, and we will block them at both ends of the Kupa River... and then fight."

"If Pannoni's invading army is large in number, dividing it into two groups will not only help them march and camp, but also help them fight. But for us, if we divide our forces equally, intercept them at both ends, and fight at both ends, With a small number of troops, we probably won’t be able to take any advantage..."

Frontilus sighed, looked at Quintus first, then looked at Maximus, and said calmly: "I didn't consider this attack route to the south before. Thanks to Quintus's reminder, if If the Pannoni army is large enough and the commander is smart enough, it is really possible to attack from two sides!

If that's the case... we'd better send a small number of troops to hold on to Westeni and Snodia, concentrate the main force to defeat the enemies on one side first, and then engage in a decisive battle with the enemies on the other side. "

Quintus took over the conversation and said solemnly: "Chief, if the Pannonians attack from both sides, I agree with Frontinus's suggestion. This is the best way, but in this way our territory may be destroyed. Suffered considerable damage.”